I want to thank the many directors who have given me such heady opportunities, passed on their insights and helped build and develop my courage as a performer of Shakespeare over so many years; in particular John Barton, Richard Eyre, Trevor Nunn, Greg Doran and Phyllida Lloyd.
A huge thank-you to Faith Evans, whom I first met as editor of Clamorous Voices, and who then became my literary agent, encouraging me to write my first book, Other People’s Shoes. Thanks also to Matt Applewhite and everyone at Nick Hern Books, who have benignly nagged me while I procrastinated in writing this book, and especially to Nick Hern himself, who reissued Other People’s Shoes, and saved me from many writing pitfalls while editing this book.
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Photo credits: Ophelia in Hamlet © John Haynes/Lebrecht Music & Arts; Helena in All’s Well That Ends Well by Reg Wilson, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth by Jonathan Dockar-Drysdale, and Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra by Pascal Molliere, all © RSC; Portia in The Merchant of Venice by John Peters; Imogen in Cymbeline and Viola in Twelfth Night, both © Ivan Kyncl/ArenaPAL; Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing © Donald Cooper/Photostage; Brutus in Julius Caesar and King Henry IV in Henry IV, both © Helen Maybanks. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publisher will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.